The Annual Children's Summer Camp ‘Sources of Tolerance' was fourthly organized for 200 young representatives of the 17 national communities of Ukraine (Poles, Jews, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Moldovans, Volga Tatars, Armenians, Ukrainians, Crimean, Tatars, Russians, Greeks, Buelorussians, Bulgarians, Azerbaijanians). Tutors in the camp also belonged to various ethnic cultures. Professional psychologists also worked with children. Children are not divided into groups depending on their ethnic belonging, that is why children from different nations don't have to compete with each other and prove which nation is better.   The camp's program aims to promote the values of civil society, to develop an active life attitude, to form national self-awareness, to train young leaders. The main principle of the camp is personal contact, “feeling into”, and an attempt to live though a day through the eyes of a Different Person. Personal acquaintance, personalization, helps to destroy biased opinions, lower the level of indifference, aggressiveness and fear of a Different Person.

Target group : teenagers, young adults - representatives of the national communities of Ukraine .

In 2005, there were 200 children – representatives of 17 ethnic communities (Poles, Jews, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Moldovans, Volga Tatars, Armenians, Ukrainians, Crimean, Tatars, Russians, Greeks, Buelorussians, Bulgarians, Azerbaijanians). Tutors in the camp also belonged to various ethnic cultures. Professional psychologists also worked with children. At the age of 11–18 teenagers begin to seriously think about who they are, what they live for; they begin to form their system of values and meanings.

The acceptance of tolerance and social trust create the basis for the future generations, decisions in the favor of peace, not war, for the benefit of peaceful co-existence, not conflicts. The development of the spirit of tolerance among teenagers, understanding of tolerance as society's primary value will be a significant contribution to the development of democracy in Ukraine .

As an important element of culture of communications, tolerance today is caused by a necessary condition of public unification of people of different religions, political views, and cultural traditions.

Intolerance to lifestyle, faith, or behavior of other people always exists in deep layers of “routinely morals” and gets aggravated in the periods of economic and political intolerance. That is why it is so important to define a possibility and ways of resolving conflicts between values of representatives of various cultures and groups of people.

What conditions is it necessary to create for development of tolerance? Can we change stereotypes of perception of a Different Person and destroy prejudices?

Ideologists, teachers, and children – participants of the international children's camp “Sources of Tolerance” have been looking for answers to these questions for a fourth year. This camp is the first social and psychological experiment of this sort in post-Soviet countries. The camp is located in the territory of Ukraine .

Teenagers of national minorities learn:

to develop self-respect and the ability to respect other persons' dignity;

to understand and to accept the difference of each participant's manifestation within the group interaction;

to develop self –awareness, self-cognition, skills of positive inner dialogue;

to form the positive attitude toward his/her cultural group;

to assert his/her self through the positive feedback from the group;

to use constructive methods of conflict solution,

to develop social imagination, the ability to listen to another person, empathic skills.

to provide intercultural understanding and tolerant behavior in the interethnic relations.

Children are not divided into groups depending on their ethnic belonging, that is why children from different nations don't have to compete with each other and prove which nation is better. Poles, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Russians, and Armenians live one common camp life. Thus, the principle of “whom shall we be friends against?” loses its meaning here. Joint activities, dwelling of children of different nations in one room, and rich friendly fellowship change “friendship against someone” to merely friendship.

Each day the camp plunges into a world of culture, language, symbols, customs and traditions of one nation. Each morning starts with the national anthem of Ukraine and another national anthem or song of a particular nation. During their morning classes children learn about culture and history of this nation, learning words from its mini-dictionary to be able to greet one another on that day. It is important for children to feel that they are not alone in this world, that they are surrounded by many cultures, that they are different from one another but each of them is interesting and unique.

Classes are held in an interactive game form; children discuss specifics of traditions of a nation, comparing their ideas of this nation with real facts. In cafeteria they can taste ethnic dishes, in clubs – learn dances and songs of different nations, as well as traditional ethnic trades and sports. Children of that particular culture feel special on that day, telling the others about their nation's traditions, games, and holidays.

In the evening, the whole camp is invited either to a Tatar feast or Greek Olympiad, Ukrainian party or Jewish salatron. It includes national games and competitions. Each group makes a gift – a dance, a song, or a play to the children of a birthday nation. At the final international festival children demonstrate those new things that they have learned in the camp.